Follow Your Arrow
by allthewritestuff
Summary: In an effort to combat constant marginalization and scrutiny from her colleagues and SHIELD as a whole, Athena Xavier decides she is in need of a career change. Her only chance to become the person she feels she was destined to be is to enlist the help of two of SHIELD's most notorious, most lethal, agents.


Words cannot express how excited I am to be finally putting this out here. I tried uploading a version of this story, but I took it down, because honestly, I felt like it wasn't my best work. But I am happy to say, I am really proud of this version of it, and I hope you enjoy it. I put my heart and soul into my fic and all the characters, both canon and my OCs, and I really hope I did an adequate job of bringing them to life! Happy reading! Please Review!

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 _April 2009_

Athena Xavier couldn't help but feel as if she was called into the principal's office.

Well, more accurately, what she _thought_ being called into the principal's office would feel like.

She sat on the small couch in the back of Agent Coulson's office, shoulders slightly hunched as she nervously fiddled with her fingers. Athena couldn't help but think that if her parents saw her now, they would scold her bad posture and nervous tick. She thought made her straighten up and she neatly placed her hands in her lap. In an effort to calm some of her nervous anxiety, she began to instead suck on her bottom lip.

"You okay?" Agent Coulson asked, shaking Athena from her own thoughts. He was sitting at his desk, filling out some paperwork as he too, waited for the guests to arrive.

"I'm fine, I'm just…just nervous, that's all." Athena tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Don't be. You're in good hands." Coulson offered the girl a small smile. It did make her feel a little more at ease.

A few minutes, which seemed like hours later, there was a light knock on the door before the sound of it being pulled open filled the room.

"Barton, Romanov. Nice of you to join us." Coulson greeted as SHIELD's notorious duo walked into the office.

"Us?" Barton asked. His eyes widened a bit in confusion. "Who else is-" He turned and looked at Romanov before looking at Athena. "Oh. Who are you?"

"Agents Barton and Romanov, I would like you to meet Athena Xavier." Coulson smiled, and motioned to Athena. "She's a scientist in down in the labs."

Athena got up from the couch and made her way over to the two agents who were now standing in front of Coulson's desk. She had heard many rumors about Agents Barton and Romanov. Both former criminals, deadly, and in all honesty, very attractive. She dried a sweaty, shaky hand on the side of her skirt before extending it towards the man.

Agent Barton shook it with a serious expression. Athena had never felt a more calloused hand, probably from all of his work with his bow. She then extended her hand towards Agent Romanov, but the redheaded agent merely stared at the hand for a few seconds before looking away.

Barton looked at Athena, "No offense, but," He turned to Coulson. "How old is she?"

"Seventeen," Athena summoned up as much confidence as she could muster, and answered before Coulson had the chance.

"And you're working at SHIELD?" Agent Romanov spoke for the first time since walking in the room. From what she had heard about the woman, Athena had expected her accent to be a little bit more _Russian_ , but it seemed as if she had lost her accent almost completely.

"I'm a child prodigy. I graduated MIT at with a Master's degree in Genetic Engineering, SHIELD recruited me exactly two and a half months after my graduation. I guess they had a problem they needed a fresh perspective on." Athena answered nonchalantly. Answering the question of "Why are you here if you're seventeen?" had become so routine and predictable.

"And that problem is…?" Clint asked

"Classified." Coulson answered a little sharply. Athena turned around and walked away, taking a seat back on the couch, while Barton and Romanov sat in the two chairs in front of Coulson's desk.

"Coulson, what's going on? I doubt you brought us up here just so we could meet one of SHIELD's scientists." Romanov sated.

"Actually, that was exactly why I brought you up here." Coulson smiled at the two agents.

"What?" Barton asked, his brow furrowed.

"Miss Xavier is in want of a change. She wants to move from the labs to in the field."

The room went silent. Barton looked at Romanov, and then to Athena, and back to Coulson.

"Wait, you're serious?" Barton asked, incredulously. Coulson nods.

"I believe Miss Xavier would be a valuable asset for STRIKE Team: Delta." Coulson simply said.

"She's joining the team?" Romanov asked, crossing her arms.

Coulson took a deep breath, before answering. He looked at both agents. "Effective immediately, you two will be training and mentoring Miss Xavier." Romanov and Barton turned back to look at Athena. She felt sick. Coulson Continued. "Although she's not at the Academy, she still has to pass both the written and physical tests before she can officially get out there on the field, so you two are going to prepare her for her exams."

Barton immediately reacted, "No! Hell no! I am _not_ a babysitter." He looked at Athena, part apologetically, part angrily. "Look, you may be some kid genius but you wouldn't last a minute out there in the field. If Coulson's not going to be honest with you, I will. You're going to die out there. I don't want that on my conscience."

"Same." Romanov deadpanned.

"If I may interject," Athena's voice wavered a bit. All eyes made their way to her. "I am well aware of the risks. I never make a decision without looking at the facts and calculating the risks, and predicting possible outcomes."

"Coulson, you can't-" Barton started, looking at Coulson hoping maybe he could convince him this is a bad idea.

"It's already been decided. Three days a week, Athena will be with you and Agent Romanov. She'll shadow your day to day operations and you'll train with her down in the gym," Coulson looked at Romanov, "And you'll help prepare Miss Xavier with her written exam."

"Is this because of-" Agent Romanov began.

"Odessa? Natasha-" The sudden switch, calling Agent Romanov by her first name instead of her last name took both Athena and Agent Romanov by surprise. "We almost lost you there. I don't feel comfortable sending you back in the field until you're back at one hundred percent."

"Coulson, I'm _fine…_ "

"You're not going anywhere until you're cleared by medical and psych, Natasha. Don't even try." Coulson retorted. "I figured this way, you'd at least have something to do while you recovered."

Romanov didn't respond, but she turned back to glare at Athena and then look away. Romanov let out an angry sigh.

The tension in the room was thick like the humidity on a hot summer's day. The quiet seconds felt like hours, each person wondering who was going to be the one to break the silence.

"So," Coulson took a deep breath, shuffling the papers on his desk. "That's all, if there are no questions?" Athena shook her head, while Barton and Romanov looked at Coulson emotionless.

"Okay. So, I actually have a meeting I need to get to," He stood up. "Feel free to get acquainted with each other." He looked at Athena, smiling, and back to Barton. "I feel like you guys will make a great team." He excused himself and left, leaving the two agents and the geneticist alone.

Half a moment later, Agents Barton and Romanov collectively decided to follow suit and leave as well, and in a last ditch effort to get the agents to open up to her, Athena exclaimed, probably a bit too loudly, "I'm really looking forward to working with you!"

The agents froze, their eyes boring into her's like tiny daggers. Barton shook his head and while Romanov rolled her eyes as the two murderously strode out of Coulson's office, leaving Athena all alone.

This was going to be harder than she initially thought.

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